Southern Poverty Law Center CEO grilled at testy hearing about DOJ charges for secretly funding KKK
WASHINGTON — The embattled Southern Poverty Law Center’s CEO Bryan Fair appeared Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee for a grilling over Justice Department allegations that the ostensibly anti-racism group secretly funded the extremism it claims to oppose.Fair broadly defended the center while declining to answer for specific alleged wrongdoing — after the DOJ in April filed fraud and conspiracy charges alleging millions in donor funds flowed to hate groups including the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and National Socialist Party of America.“All the allegations in the indictment will be addressed in the Middle District of Alabama,” Fair said repeatedly throughout nearly four hours of testimony — as prominent defense attorney Abbe Lowell sat behind him to provide support.“Were [donors] informed that [contributions were] actually funding members of the KKK?” Rep.Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) asked Fair, drawing the practiced deflection.Hunt, one of four black House Republicans, recounted allegations that the legacy civil rights group paid a KKK leader a salary and even approved an expense report for a cross burning — expressing incredulity at the organization’s claim that it was merely paying informants.
“According to a superseding indictment, the SPLC paid more than $4.1 million to informants tied to extremist groups, including the KKK from 2010 to 2023,” Hunt said.“In two cases, informants who were active members of the local KKK chapter reportedly told the SPLC that they wanted out because they feared for their safety.Instead of supporting their exit, the SPLC employee allegedly encouraged them to remain involved and offered them a monthly salary of $1,200 to do so,” the Houston-area congressman said.“As a result, one informant rose into a leadership role within the KKK, recruited other new members, purchased KKK materials, and were even reimbursed for expenses related to cross-burning events.”Hunt added: “I can’t make this up.
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